As Long As We Both Shall Live
by You'reMyPerson
Summary: Post BD. A little fluff. A bit of Drama. Some of the green-eyed monster. Episodes in the lives of the Cullen Family.


"Edward."

I spoke the name softly, knowing he would hear it. In a moment he was before me, with that crooked smile placed on his smug face. The sunlight beamed onto him, and for a moment my train of thought was sidetracked by his beauty.

"Bella?"

Stupid, shiny husband. I hated when he was right. Even worse, I hated when I was wrong. He was still smirking, waiting for me to speak. I rolled my eyes at him, and took a deep breath.

"You win."

His smirk turned into a laugh of victory, and he yelled (unnecessarily loud) to Emmett that they had won. I heard Emmett's responding cry of victory from inside the house, and Rosalie's groan of defeat. Edward turned back to me with a dazzling grin.

"I told you we could do it lamb, there was no need to bet," He smiled mischievously and lifted his eyebrows, "though I certainly won't mind claiming my prize."

He pulled me into his arms for a kiss, and I could already feel my annoyance at losing drifting away when his lips met mine. When he broke the kiss (I still hadn't mastered how to end a kiss with Edward myself) he smiled down at me and turned us towards the lawn. I could see Emmett and Rose coming down to stand beside us, and I sighed realizing his "prize" would have to wait until later.

There was no possibility of denying them their victory. When Rose and I had started planning Carlisle and Esme's party, Edward and Emmett had teased how serious we took our planning. When we bet them that they wouldn't be able to do it by themselves, we never expected them to accept the challenge. Yet here we were, looking down at circular tables clothed in white surrounding a wooden dance floor laid into the grass. There were white Christmas lights strung out between poles to enclose the square, with a long table at one end to hold the food. A banner above the table read "Happy Anniversary, Carlisle & Esme." There were flowers of bright colors on every table, and wrapped around the poles used to string the lights. I could tell that when the party started, just as the sun was setting, the effect would be breathtaking.

After Rosalie and I congratulated our proud men, we turned back toward the house to get ready. I could hear Alice trying to convince Renesmee to wear the new pink dress she had bought her the day before. I held back a laugh as Renesmee told her that it was too puffy and if she liked it so much, why didn't she wear it to the party.

Although the argument was amusing, in the back of my mind I thought about the real reason she didn't want to wear a dress she thought looked silly. Nessie was physically about 16 now, and I guessed that her thoughts today pertained only to impressing a certain werewolf with how grown up she looked. One glance at Edward's face as he got a mindful of thoughts from our daughter convinced me of my suspicion.

Ah well. I'll try and push that to the back of my mind. We all turned at the sound of wheels turning off the main road and onto the drive to the house.

"Hey Edward, I think the food guys are here." Emmett said from the window.

"Why are there, like, ten vehicles?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Well, we..er...didn't know exactly what food to get. So...er, we got some of everything," my husbands expression was priceless.

Rose and I exchanged looks and burst into laughter as all the food trucks came into view. Some of everything didn't begin to explain it. They had ordered Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Italian, and apparently every kind of pastry ever made.

"I hope you can find some more food tables to set up boys, I'm going to get dressed," Rose turned and left, her voice full of laughter.

I watched as the boys grumbled blame onto each other and turned to meet with the delivery men.

Heading upstairs to get dressed myself, I went through my checklist for the party. I had counted the chairs set up outside, just to make sure the guys had gotten the number right. It was by no means a large party, but the guest list was certainly interesting.

First, there would be the nine of us...well, vampires.

Second, there was my father, Charlie. He would most likely be arriving with his friend Billy and Billy's son Jacob. Of course, along with Jacob we were expecting his pack of...werewolves.

Then there were the miscellaneous guests from town, and Carlisle's friends and co-workers from the hospital.

Well, at least it shouldn't be dull. To be honest, I was excited for the party. Carlisle and Esme had gone to Isle Esme for some alone time a few weeks ago, and were expected home around seven tonight. All the guests should be here by 630. I had my fingers crossed that the couple didn't arrive early to spoil the surprise.

I dressed myself into a plain blue sundress with white straps that Alice and I had picked up for the occasion. It stopped just above my knees and, glancing at myself in the mirror, I was thankful that I had Alice as a shopping partner when I needed her. I slipped my arms through the holes of the light, white sweater I was wearing over my dress.

As I finished brushing my hair, choosing to leave it down, I heard Edward come into our bedroom and shivered with delight as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I rolled my head onto his shoulder, closed my eyes, and sighed as he placed kisses along my neck and shoulder.

I felt, more than heard, his whisper of love as he spun me around to face him. Opening my eyes, I looked into his golden flecked eyes and smiled at the expression I found. I never stopped feeling like the luckiest women alive when I was in his arms.

He smiled back at me. "You look beautiful, Mrs. Cullen."

"You don't look so bad yourself, Mr. Cullen." He had changed into khaki pants and a grey cashmere sweater. He looked amazing.

As he bent down to kiss me again, we were distracted by the sound of crushed gravel as another car turned into the drive. It was almost five, definitely too early for the first of our guests to be arriving.

"More food?" I asked him, confused.

He shook his head, looking just as confused.

As we went downstairs, we were met with a flustered Alice. She was wearing a green dress, similar to mine, with a black sweater.

"Oooh, I completely forgot!" Her eyes were wide, and she looked almost nervous, glancing from me to Edward and back again. She was suddenly still, and got that far off look in her face that always came with her visions. When she was focused again on the present, the look she sent our way was still nervous and almost...sad. But thats silly, what was there to be sad about?

Her face cleared, and I could tell she was trying to hide her thoughts from Edward.

"Alice, is something wrong?" I was starting to feel worried.

"You could've mentioned Tanya and her gang were coming, now we have to set up another table," Edward sounded calm, but the look he sent her was just as suspicious as I felt. So, I thought, he can tell she's hiding something from him.

Meanwhile, Jasper was walking towards the door to open our home to our premature guests.

Eleazar walked in with Carmen on his arm, followed quickly by Kate. I smiled a greeting at them, and Kate's smile was sent with a look that could be described only as sympathy.

Not a moment later, a vision in pink entered the house. Tanya was wearing a revealing, deep pink dress that cut off about mid-thigh. Her strawberry blonde hair was cascading around her in loose waves. Her radiant smile was directed at each of us, resting finally on Edward, who she rushed forward to greet.

"Edward! Tell me how much you've missed me!" Her sweet laugh was met with a smile by my husband, who didn't hesitate as she reached out for a hug. When she pulled away, he suddenly stiffened at my side, shooting a glance at me. What was in her thoughts, then? She noticed his actions, and smoothed it over with another innocent laugh as she sent a smile and a calculating glance my way.

As she moved down the line, I felt uneasy. She hadn't shown any great interest in Edward when she came down to help against the Volturi last time. Besides, if Edward knew what she was thinking he would certainly quell any of her notions as they began. Of course, it was silly of me to feel so...unsettled.

But as I looked towards Alice again, I caught her looking at Edward with a skeptical expression, then she glanced towards Tanya with distaste. When she caught me looking at her, she covered it over with a fake smile. I looked towards Tanya's stunning figure as she continued a conversation with Rosalie, and saw her cast a sideways glance at Edward as he answered one of Eleazar's questions.

Right. No need to worry.


End file.
